Middle Orient

The IRGC intelligence chief’s visit to Iraq last week followed one by top commander Ismail Ghaani. The intelligence chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) encouraged local militia leaders during a recent meeting in Iraq to increase their small-scale attacks against US positions in the country, Reuters reported today. …

The latest bombshell by fugitive Turkish crime boss Sedat Peker has stoked calls for an investigation. Fugitive Turkish crime boss Sedat Peker has dropped a new bombshell in his tell-all vendetta against Ankara, claiming that weapons were secretly distributed to members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after …

Turkey is allegedly planning to use Syrian fighters in its proposed mission to guard and run Kabul’s airport, but this time recruitment is expected to proceed via private security firms. Turkey’s government appears to have learned little from the troubles it has faced for deploying Syrian fighters in the wars …

Businessman Yaqoub Abu al-Qia’an, who was briefly a Knesset candidate in right-wing Telem party, accused of providing information to Iranian intelligence via a contact in Lebanon A Bedouin Israeli millionaire who briefly ran for Knesset with former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon was charged on Monday with passing information to Iranian …

Slovenia’s prime minister and other former US officials also speak at virtual event held by Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. Former Obama and Trump administration officials as well as Slovenia’s premier attended a Sunday event held by the controversial Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e Khalq, leading to criticism. The organization’s Free Iran 2021 World Summit …

The kingdom’s decision to ban the import of produce from the government-held areas is viewed as a sign that the kingdom has not changed its position toward the Syrian government. Speaking to the local Al-Watan newspaper July 6, Fayez Qassuma, vice president of the Export Committee in the Damascus Chamber …

The Iranian comments followed US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley’s pledge that the United States would not accept a partial deal that does not bring home all four detained Americans from Iran. Iran said Tuesday that negotiations are ongoing over a possible prisoner exchange with the United States as …

The kingdom diversification plan goes head-to-head with flag carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways, as intra-Gulf economic rivalries heat up on all fronts. Saudi Arabia plans to launch a second national airline “as soon as possible” to catapult the country into the fifth rank globally in air transit traffic, increase air …

The fire and lack of emergency response is endemic in the region as Turkish attacks routinely impact communities in Iraq’s north. A Turkish airstrike July 6 ignited agricultural fields of Assyrian villages in the Nahla Valley of the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. As flames burned for hours at night …

Their fierce competition for economic power in the region might actually smooth America’s exit from the stage. Multiple cracks have recently opened in the Saudi-Emirati relationship. The UAE is resisting efforts by Saudi Arabia and Russia to convince OPEC+ members to continue to restrict oil production. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will …